Chapter 92, Stats., establishes the framework for the department to operate a statewide soil and water resource management program. This rule also implements the soil and water conservation requirements in subch. V of ch. 91, Stats. This rule is related to s. 281.16, Stats., and ch. NR 151. Plain Language Analysis
Background
The existing provisions in ch. ATCP 50 establish farm conservation practices to meet agricultural performance standards established in ch. NR 151. The rule identifies the conservation practice standards available to implement farm conservation practices. The rule describes the requirements for county soil and water management programs and lays out eligibility and requirements for grants to support the county and provide financial assistance for landowners. The rule describes local regulations a county may adopt and defines the role of the department where applicable. The rule sets standards for certification and qualifications for soil and water professionals and establishes a role for the department in training these professionals. The rule creates general standards for conservation practices for which financial assistance is available and a process to develop or revise the conservation practice standards or technical standards under this rule. Rule Content
General
This rule does all the following:
Makes language updates and changes, including corrections to outdated provisions.
Updates and adds definitions to clarify the meaning of important terms.
Updates provisions related to soil and water conservation on farms.
Updates requirements for administration of the soil and water resource management grant program.
Updates and clarifies the process for counties to receive grants from the department.
Adds options for providing financial assistance to landowners.
Updates and adds maximum rates of financial assistance for some cropping practices.
Clarifies and updates requirements and eligibility related to engineering certification and nutrient management planning.
Adds a process for development of technical standards.
Updates conservation practices and adds new conservation practices. Language updates
The proposed rule makes minor clarifying and corrective changes to the rule as well as typical, cosmetic changes that occur during rulemaking. These changes include updating weblinks and references, removal of gendered language and updates to reflect current language usage.
The rule removes most of the notes found throughout all subchapters of the rule. Where appropriate, the content of the note is incorporated into the rule.
Definitions and General Provisions
This rule now includes definitions for the following:
Land conservation committeeThe following existing definitions are revised for clarity and, where appropriate, to incorporate existing notes into the definition.
Nutrient management planThe definition of RUSLE 2 equation was removed.
Silurian Bedrock Agricultural Performance Standard and DATCP 01 Verification of Depth to Bedrock technical standard
In 2018, the DNR promulgated a targeted performance standard related to Silurian bedrock in ch. NR 151.075, designed to minimize the risk for pathogen delivery to groundwater. The performance standard applies within parts of 16 counties in the Silurian bedrock area. The performance standard sets forth manure spreading rates and practices for mechanical manure application that vary according to the soil depth and texture. The most restrictive practices apply to those limited areas of the highest risk for pathogen delivery. Less restrictive requirements apply in areas with 5 to 20 feet to bedrock. The department is responsible for developing and disseminating technical standards to implement the agricultural performance standards and prohibitions. This rule adds Silurian bedrock as a farm conservation practice and describes the requirements farmers and landowners must meet to implement the performance standard. This rule adds DATCP 01 Verification of Depth to Bedrock Technical Standard as conservation practice. The Verification of Depth to Bedrock Technical Standard is a voluntary tool farmers and landowners can use to verify the depth to bedrock in fields prior to mechanical application of manure. This rule also allows counties to provide cost-share to use this technical standard and to update a nutrient management plan to comply with the Silurian bedrock performance standard. This rule establishes a delayed date of implementation.
Soil and Water Conservation on Farms
This subchapter of the rule details the conservation practices landowners shall implement if they engage in agricultural practices.
This rule updates the effective date of compliance with agricultural performance standards under ss. NR 151.02 to 151.08 from May 1, 2014 to June 1, 2018 to incorporate the Silurian bedrock performance standard, s. NR 151.075. This rule removes dates of delayed implementation that have passed. This rule clarifies the process to calculate the cost of maintenance when cost-sharing is required and eliminates the specific inclusion of mowing costs in costs of compliance. The rule clarifies that maintenance costs shall be calculated to cover a standard maintenance period that is defined in the rule or specified in the contract. The rule clarifies exemptions to required cost-sharing by removing contour farming and strip cropping, which are one-time practices and costs, and are not cost-shared for multiple years. Pesticide management was removed as the practice is not related to implementation of the agricultural performance standards. Conservation crop rotation is added to the list of exemptions if cost-shared for 4 years.
County Soil and Water Program
This subchapter of the rule details requirements for county soil and water conservation programs. The rule details requirements for land and water resource management plans, annual reporting, annual grant applications, and accounting and recordkeeping. The rule describes requirements for adopting county ordinances and requirements related to the farmland preservation program.
This rule no longer specifically mentions the county land information and modernization program and instead requires coordination with other county departments more generally.
This rule updates and clarifies requirements for development of county land and water resource management plans. These updates delete repetitive language and updates language to request identification of priority areas of resource concern in addition to identification of priority farms. The updates also simplify requirements for work planning and estimating needs to implement the plan. This rule provides recommendations for the scope of individuals to appoint or consult with as part of a local advisory committee when developing a plan.
This rule requires landowners who claim farmland preservation tax credits to comply with the Silurian bedrock performance standard beginning April 1, 2027, if applicable.
This rule simplifies annual reporting requirements by removing a provision that requires counties to submit their financial contribution toward staffing. This information is already collected through the staffing grant application process.
Grants to Counties
This subchapter of the rule details the process for counties and other project cooperators when applying for grants for staffing and grants for conservation practices for landowners. The subchapter describes the process the department uses to award grants through an annual allocation process.
This rule clarifies the process to apply for grants and establishes a timeline for the department to provide the application form to the county land conservation committees. This rule adds the requirement for the department to share a copy of the environmental assessment related to the allocation plan and incorporates into rule the requirements to allow additional time to review the allocation plan if material changes are made during the drafting of the allocation plan following initial review.
This rule updates the grant priorities list for the annual grant allocation plan by removing examples of state priorities. The list is not exhaustive list of what the priorities of the state shall and may be interpreted to imply that there are specific, individual farms that would meet these criteria as opposed to a category of possible priorities. In addition, the allocation plan application provides more detail about state priorities and s. ATCP 50.30 (3) (a-r) maintains a comprehensive list of other factors for consideration when determining priorities. This rule updates provisions related to reimbursement requests for consistency with current practice and to eliminate redundancy with the contract. This rule includes language that the first, second, and subsequent staff may differ from those identified in the application to acknowledge that, with the two-year lag between application and funding awards, staff turnover may occur.
This rule is updated to allow counties to use grant funds awarded through the allocation process for financial assistance for conservation practices. “Financial assistance” may include cost-share, incentives, performance payments and other uses not prohibited by statute. This rule states that reimbursement for financial assistance requires documentation to show payment conditions are met.
Language updates include revisions to update “cost-share practice” to “conservation practice” and “cost-share funds” to “grant funds” to account for the expanded use of funds for financial assistance.
This rule clarifies that funds awarded for staffing are non-transferable.
Cost-Share Grants to Landowners
This subchapter of the rule details how a county land conservation committee may use grant funds awarded to the county under ss. ATCP 50.34 or 50.35 to provide financial assistance to landowners. This rule updates the section from “Cost-share Grants to Landowners” to “Financial Assistance to Landowners” to add options to support landowners in implementing conservation practices. This rule creates a new section, s. ATCP 50.38, to outline the general requirements that apply when counties distribute any type of financial assistance to landowners. This rule creates section s. ATCP 50.41, to describe requirements for offering financial assistance to landowners in forms other than as cost-share.
